Deadline shared yesterday that Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney would be joining Dakota Johnson in Sony Pictures’ Madame Web, but there’s no word yet as to which character in the Spider-Man universe she will be.
In the comics, Madame Web has been depicted as an elderly woman named Cassandra Webb, with clairvoyant and precognitive mutant abilities that she uses to “help” Spider-Man. I put help in quotes because she’s a sassy lady and sometimes painfully vague.
S.J. Clarkson is on board to direct the movie, with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless writing the screenplay and Kerem Sanga having done work on a previous draft. The choice to cast Johnson herself has always been interesting considering the character is historically an older woman, and Johnson is only in her 30s. It seems like a missed opportunity to have an older actress in that role, but maybe they are doing something different.
Who could Sweeney play?
As for Sydney Sweeney, people are wondering who she is going to be depicting in this film. It is possible that Sweeney could be playing Julia Carpenter, the second incarnation of Spider-Woman, Arachne, and Madame Web. Carpenter is blonde, just like the actress, and wasn’t featured in the Into the Spider-Verse film, which means there will be an opportunity to make this character her own in a way that wouldn’t happen if they just made Sweeney take on the role of Spider-Gwen.
In the comics, Carpenter has the typical Spider-Man powers, but her special set of skills is that she can create psionic energy webs. She was trained in espionage and hand-to-hand combat, so she would also have her own unique fight skills in comparison to other Spider-people.
Would I love for Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. Black Cat, to finally make her live-action debut properly? Absolutely. However, I don’t see how that would connect with Madame Web, and considering her role as a love interest to Peter Parker, I think they will wait to introduce her until they figure out the next phase of Spider-Man.
Plus, I’d rather have a female Spider-lady film that doesn’t need to be in a relationship with Peter Parker, and the spy aspect could be fun to play with. Who do you think Sweeney should be in the Spider-Verse?
(via Deadline, image: Marvel)
